Showing results by narrator "B J Harrison" in All Categories

Evanston, Illinois, 1982. A group of students at a magnet high school meet to audition for the spring play. They are eager for the chance to escape their difficult everyday lives. Declan, an experienced senior, is confident he’ll get his first-choice role, but when the capricious, charismatic drama director casts Franklin, an unknown underclassman—and the two are seen alone at the director’s house—a series of events that will haunt the cast for years begins to unfold.

Looking Glass Friends is a story about finding your soul's reflection, the ideal person put on this earth just for you. But what if you are already married? What if you have kids? This quest for happiness lies at the heart of all our lives. Many of us face the choice that advances this story. Many of us know that our life will be utterly different in 20 years depending on the choice we make today. It is an intersection that changes everything forever.

When an aged watchmaker pits his two protégés against each other, the result is magnificent imperfection. The Rival Mechanicians has been lauded as one of the finest science fiction tales from the first half of the nineteenth century. The Western Literary Messenger declared it to be “above praise” when it was first published in 1847.

After a meteorite strikes near a farmhouse outside of Arkham, livestock and plants begin to die. While the scientifically minded speak of discovering a new element, locals sense something more sinister is in the air. A pioneer of cosmic horror, Lovecraft had the ability to sharpen the intellect while causing chills to run down your spine.

An assassin is sent back in time to prevent the ravings of a religious zealot which, if left unchecked, will lead to absolute catastrophe. A master of the “Silver Age” of science fiction, Philip K. Dick won the Hugo Award in 1963, and the John W. Campbell Memorial award in 1975. Though he lived most of his life in near poverty, he is behind some of the most recognizable science fiction stories to date, penning the stories behind the films Blade Runner, Total Recall, Minority Report, Paycheck, and The Adjustment Bureau.

It is Thanksgiving day. Stuffy Pete has just come out from an unexpected feast but he is now waiting for his companion, "The Old Gentleman". They only ever meet on this one day of the year, and although they do not know that much of each other, they always spend the holiday together. Stuffy Pete follows the tradition although he is so full that he cannot think of eating more food. The Old Gentleman shows up and they head out to a fancy restaurant for a delicious meal. When Stuffy Pete walks out of the restaurant, he collapses on the sidewalk.

After a long stay in South Africa, Richard Hannay arrives back in London just before the outbreak of World War One. There he meets Franklin Scudder, who claims to be investigating the Black Stone - a German spy organization. Hannay gives a shelter to the man but one day he finds him dead. Now the Scotsman fears that he might be the next one on the Black Stone’s list. Hannay decides to go back to his native Scotland with the notebook Scudder gave him before he was murdered.

An Englishman stops at an inn during his trip through Transylvania. He decides to wander around in a carriage despite the approaching night; darkness doesn't seem to worry him. He sets off but after a while the horses get scared by howling wolfs. The Englishman continues by foot and suddenly finds himself in a snowy and gloomy cemetery. This would not be that big of a problem if this specific night was not the so called Walpurgis Night, or in other words the time when spirits leave their graves to haunt the living.

"You see, this is the beauty I want. Beauty has got to be astonishing, astounding--it's got to burst in on you like a dream, like the exquisite eyes of a girl." Ardita, a beautiful and bored young Flapper, is hanging out on her uncle's yacht when it's suddenly captured by pirates. When Ardita meets and falls in love with the charming captain she knows she's been right to reject the boring and rich society men. But a truth lurks around the corner that will make her question everything she thinks she knows.

A meteorite crashes in an area around Arkham, Massachusetts and normally life is interrupted. The earth is poisoned, the animals are driven mad, the products that grow there become tasteless. One man decides to find out what has really happened but the townspeople are not willing to give more details about what they have gone through. The explorer however meets a man named Ammi Pierce. He looks a bit crazy but he is willing to share what he has experienced.

Rachel Innes is a rich lady who has been taking care of her niece and nephew since their father died. The three of them decide to rent a house in the country and although everything seems to be alright in the beginning, strange events soon begin to occur. Her niece disappears then reappears a few days later. There is a murder they are involved in. They hear strange noises. Things fall down the stairs in the middle of the night. Will Rachel solve the mysteries and how will their summer end? Find out in "The Circular Staircase". B. J.

The swineherd John spots a tree outside the palace that it is so high it reaches the sky. It blossoms in the morning, by noon it bears fruits and by midnight they are ripe. However someone steals each and every apple and the king does not get to taste it. Furious, hr decides to find out who the culprit is. Find out the end of this Hungarian fairy tale in "The Tree That Reached the Sky". B. J. Harrison started his Classic Tales Podcast back in 2007, wanting to breathe new life into classic stories.

Hungary during the Ottoman wars: Turks attack Buda and set up a siege of Eger. Gergely Bornemissza is a poor half-orphan who is about to become a national hero. "Eclipse of the Crescent Moon" follows Gergelys life from the age of eight until his early thirties. His life is a vivid combination of poverty, love, battles and dangers. He is on the front line when the Turks capture Buda and later when they approach Eger. His country is in danger and so is his family. The battle is one of life or death.

Hilton Cubitt visits Sherlock Holmes to show him a sheet of paper with a weird sequence of drawn figures. When these odd messages began to arrive at Cubitt’s house, fear and panic overwhelmed his wife Elsie. She is afraid her past is catching up with her, but she refuses to reveal anything about it. Holmes is tasked with decipher the messages and find out who is sending them.

Sanger Rainsford and Whitney are two friends, who are on their way for a jaguar hunt in the Amazonian rainforest. The two men discuss how the world consists of predators and prey, and that they are from the first type. While debating, the two men hear gunshots. Rainsford climbs onto the yacht’s rail and accidentally falls overboard. Thankfully, he manages to save himself and swims to an island called Ship-Trap, which is famous for its countless shipwrecks. There he meets General Zaroff and his gigantic servant, Ivan.

Daniel Dravot and Peachey Carnehan are two scruffy adventurers who are planning to conquer Kafiristan - a remote part of Afghanistan. The two men pretend to have signed a contract that neither of them will touch alcohol or women. However, disguised as a priest and his assistant, Dravot and Carnehan depart for Kafiristan, secretly carrying twenty riffles. Why do they want to conquer Kafiristan? Will the make it across the border alive? Find all the answers in Rudyard Kipling’s adventure story "The Man Who Would Be King" from 1888. B. J.

"The Thing in the Weeds" is a short story by William Hope Hodgson from his "Sargasso Sea Stories" in which he portrays a monster lurking in the darkest recesses of the unfathomable depths of the sea. An example of Lovecraft’s major principle of "fear of the unknown", the terror in this Hodgson story is a mysterious one, despite the fact that it haunts and kills the characters.

Three young men are caught by a storm and are offered shelter by a strange man. Something about him is very disturbing and they are about to find out what it is. Their host claims that he has made a pact with the Devil and can't get himself out of the deal. Is he going crazy or he is telling the truth? If it is the truth, can the three visitors help the poor man? Find out in Leroux’s "In Letters of Fire". B. J. Harrison started his Classic Tales Podcast back in 2007, wanting to breathe new life into classic stories.

B.J. Harrison reads the classic by Russian writer Leo Tolstoy. Martin Avdeitch is a devoted shoemaker, who works in his basement and meets sorrow in life. His family has died, except for one son. When he faces a crisis, he turns to God to look for an answer to his hardships and find meaning in his life again. The short story "Where Love Is, God Is" from the late 19th century has been adapted to television, including the award-winning television film Winter Thaw (2016) starring John Rhys-Davies. B. J.

Mr. Cave is an antique shop owner with some curious items in his collection. One of these if an extraordinary crystal egg, which he comes across one evening. Indeed, the egg seems to be a gateway to the planet Mars. This science fiction short story by H. G. Wells dating back to the late 19th century has inspired numerous other literary pieces, as well as radio and television adaptations. "The Crystal Egg" is considered to be a precursor to H. G. Wells' famous science fiction novel "The War of the Worlds" from 1898. B. J.